Patiala Police begin investigation into farmer Shubhkaran Singh’s death

Tribune News Service

Aman Sood

Patiala, March 6

The Patiala police have started a probe into the death of 22-year-old Shubhkaran Singh after his post-mortem report revealed that he died of firearm injury. A team has started gathering evidence and mapping of the crime scene.

The Patiala police, under the supervision of a gazetted officer, have started collecting video footage of the incident spot and some minutes before the incident to ascertain the weapon and also identify the shooter.

‘Shot fired from close range’

The video evidence will be crucial to study the scene of crime. Prima facie, it appears to be fired from a close range as the post-mortem report suggests multiple metal ‘balls’ (pellets) inside the head led to death within minutes. —A top cop

“Though it is a zero FIR registered at Patran police station, the fact that a Punjab boy died due to a firearm injury is enough for us to identify the shooter,” said a top cop.

A senior IPS officer privy to the developments confirmed to The Tribune that they would soon write to their Haryana counterparts to “know the weapons used by them near the Khanauri border”.

“Also the video evidence will be crucial to study the scene of crime and see if the shot came from the Haryana side. Prima facie, it appears to be fired from a close range as the post-mortem report suggests multiple metal ‘balls’ (pellets) inside the head that led to death within minutes,” he said.

The post-mortem report with The Tribune states that two injuries were found on the victim’s skull, one of which proved fatal. “Multiple round metallic ‘balls’ (pellets) are recovered from both cerebral hemispheres that are all sealed in a jar and handed over to the investigating officer (IO) for ballistic expert opinion. The hair and skin around the wound and shaved hairs are sealed in a jar and handed over to the IO for gunshot residue (GSR) and ballistic opinion, if needed by the IO,” the report says on the first injury.

The second injury involves “mild swelling present on left frontal region four cm above left eyebrow, on dissection, extracalvarial hematoma present with underlying fracture on frontal bone”.

Another senior officer from Patiala revealed that some ballistic experts have been consulted to “identify the metallic balls recovered from inside the head of the victim” and get an expert opinion to see if the firearm used can be identified.

“Usually a shotgun of .12 bore with the cartridge filled with metal balls of very small diameter are sometimes used. But hardly such bullets are fired during such agitations. Therefore, the issue is serious as the victim died within a few minutes, as per the autopsy report,” said the officer.

The farmer, declared a martyr, was killed during the ongoing agitation near Khanauri on the Haryana-Punjab border on February 21. It is alleged the fatal round was fired by Haryana cops, a charge denied by them.

Meanwhile reacting to the developments, farmer union leaders stated that they had always maintained that the Haryana cops were firing actual bullets and not rubber bullets. “A high-level probe into this death is the need of the hour,” said the union leaders spearheading the “Dilli Chalo” agitation.

Reacting to the developments, former PPCC chief Navjot Sidhu stated, “A thorough probe into the incident is needed before the investigations are handed over to the Haryana cops.”

Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal has also demanded strict action against the cops who killed Shubhkaran Singh using firearms.

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